Texans at Patriots: Full highlights, final score and analysis

The Houston Texans ended Week 1 with a loss to the New England Patriots, 27-20 on the road at Gillette Stadium. Below are highlights from the game.

On Sunday, the Houston Texans were close but just not close enough in their seven-point loss to the New England Patriots to start the 2018 NFL season. The Texans trailed by 15 points when halftime arrived and even outscored the Patriots in the second half 14-6, but once the final whistle blew, it was still a loss for Houston falling by a 27-20 score.

The Texans could have and should have played better at times in the season opener, but their running game played well throughout the game, as that was the bright spot of their offense on Sunday. Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com wrote the following about the rushing game from Sunday, giving stats about the rushing game:

"“Houston outgained the Patriots 167 to 122 net rushing yards, averaging 4.9 yards per play. With their performance, the Texans tied for the second-most rushing yards in a season-opener in franchise history.”"

That is an impressive feat for a group of Texan running backs to achieve as Houston has had some solid rushing games in the past when Arian Foster roamed the backfield for the Texans. Four different players rushed the football for the Texans in Week 1, with Lamar Miller having 98 yards on 20 carries, followed by Deshaun Watson with eight carries as the quarterback for 40 yards. Alfred Blue finished with five rushes for 36 yards, having the lone Texans rushing score of the game.

It wasn’t a win for the Texans, but they played well enough to win in the second half. This will be a learning experience for Houston, and it is now on to the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 in Nashville.

Below are highlights from the Texans at Patriots game provided by the official NFL Twitter account.

Highlights

The Texans gave it a good effort in the final two quarters, but the duo of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski was just too strong to gain the win.

What can you say that hasn’t been said about Brady and the Patriots? Even when it looks like they could have a year where they regress, Brady comes out of the gate with a game like this.

This touchdown pass put the Patriots up 14-3 early in the second quarter, which was the second touchdown pass of the game by Brady.

This was one of the plays of the day on the defensive side of the ball for the Texans. In his debut with Houston, Tyrann Mathieu came up big for his new team against one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

This was a big touchdown that set the tone of the first half for the Patriots against the Texans. It was a tough way to start the season for the Texans, as Gronkowski played a big role in the win for the Patriots.

Like always, J.J. Watt had time for the fans before the start of the Week 1 game. Watt finished the game with two solo tackles in the loss.

The NFL was ready for the return of Watson before the start of the regular season on Sunday. He finished the game 17-of-34 for 174 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He also rushed for 40 yards.